Polished Steel take the shine out of Stars

In a bottom of the table clash, Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel led throughout to deliver a comprehensive 62-46 win over Go Media Stars in Auckland on Saturday.

Standout performances at both ends of the court from shooter Aliyah Dunn, who enjoyed a 45/46 return under the hoop, and the continued strong form of rising young defender Carys Stythe, with five intercepts and six deflections, gave the Steel the overall edge.

The Steel found the ability to absorb and then respond in strong bursts throughout the match while the injury-plagued Stars used their full complement of players in a desperate attempt to get their season going and away from the foot of the table.

The home side certainly had their moments in getting a fair share of turnover ball but couldn’t maintain their consistency for long enough. Replacement defender Julia Wynands gave her first outing at the elite level a good crack while shooter Charlie Bell, with 31 from 32, was a strong presence under the Stars hoop.

In the match between the pair at the bottom of the table, both sides tinkered with their starting line-ups.

The Stars opted for their starting shooters of last week, captain Maia Wilson and Monica Falkner while starting with a new in-circle defensive pairing of Kayla Johnson and Lili Tokaduadua.

The Steel welcomed Silver Fern midcourter Kate Heffernan back for her first start of the campaign after returning from injury, taking on the centre’s bib while Kimiora Poi slipped into wing attack.

Little separated the sides during a competitive and entertaining opening stanza, the Steel poking their noses in front in the closing minutes on the back of untimely Stars’ lapses.

The Steel shooter-to-shooter combination between Dunn and Georgia Heffernan, who had a productive outing, put the pair in good scoring positions while taking the visitors out to a 15-11 lead at the first break.

Making multiple changes on the resumption, the Stars made the worst possible start, the visitors’ delivering some sparkling through-court passages of play to score the first seven goals. Staring down a 10-goal deficit prompted a tactical time-out for the home side.

Showing more composure, the Stars gradually settled into their work, ensuring it wasn’t all one-way traffic for the Steel. A strong fightback, with Mila Reuelu-Buchanan a shining light through the midcourt and delivering quick feeds, and a firmer grip defensively, helped reduce the margin.

However, with the dominant figures of Dunn and defender Stythe getting the upper hand under the respective hoops, the Steel headed into the main break on the front foot when leading 29-23.

Spear-headed by 1.96m shooter Bell, the Stars had all the momentum to start the third spell and with it their best phase of the match. Full of purpose the Stars had a storming start to push the Steel into error and climb right back into contention.

Finding their flow on attack, the Stars clawed the deficit back to three goals and with a real sniff of forcing the issue. However, just as quickly, they had too many rushes of blood while undoing all the good work with a string of soft turnovers.

Regrouping the Steel held them at arms-length and poured on the heat during the closing minutes. At the forefront, Dunn and Stythe continued their influential presence with strong contributions to push the Steel out to a comfortable 47-35 lead at the last turn.